HS Prannoy, PV Sindhu are among direct entries for the Asian Games squad for the Indian badminton contingent, the Badminton Association of India confirmed on Tuesday.

As per a circular posted on the website on 22 April, the automatic entries were based on the BWF World Rankings as of last week, with those in the top-20 gaining automatic entries. Those were HS Prannoy, double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, men’s doubles pairing Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and women’s doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand.

For the remaining spots in the squad, the selection trials are scheduled from May 4 to May 7 at Jwala Gutta Academy of Excellence in Telangana. The deadline to send confirmation of participation in the final Selection Trials to BAI is Friday, 28 April. The format for the selection trials will be then decided based on the number of confirmed entries in each discipline.

A total of 20 players (10 men and 10 women) are to be selected for the Asian Games squad ultimately. The trials would be used to select rest of the 14 spots available.

The Asian Games were originally meant to be held in 2022 and the BAI trials last year were used to select teams for CWG 2022, Thomas & Uber Cups as well as Asian Games. But with the Hangzhou edition happening in 2023, the trials are being held again.

The 10-member men and women’s teams selected last year consisted of four singles players and three pairs each. The Asian Games will have separate men’s and women’s team events apart from the five separate disciplines.

After a January meeting of the selection committee, the BAI had said that the members agreed that while selecting the Indian team for the Asian Games 2023 it will take into consideration the players who have reasonable chance to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics and they will not be subjected to additional selection trials as they will have to compete in the tournaments which will help them to qualify for the Olympics 2024. The members had unanimously agreed back then that for direct selection the cut-off of top-15 should be increased to top-20 in BWF Ranking so that more players who are close to Olympic qualification are not subjected to additional selection trials.

Now, the final list has been arrived based on the performances at the Senior Nationals held in Pune and the All India Senior Ranking Badminton Tournament from 12-18 April 2023, Bahadurgarh (Haryana),

LIST OF PLAYERS FOR AG 2023 SELECTION TRIALS

MEN'S SINGLES WOMEN'S SINGLES WOMEN'S DOUBLES MEN'S DOUBLES MIXED DOUBLES
Kidambi Srikanth Saina Nehwal (withdrew) Ashwini B /Shikha Arjun / Dhruv Rohan / Sikki
Lakshya Sen Aakarshi Kashyap Tanisha / Ashwini P Krishna / Vishnuvardhan Sai Pratheek /Tanisha
Priyanshu Rajawat Malvika Bansod Radhika /Tanvi Suraj / Pruthvi Hariharan /Varshini VS
Mithun Manjunath Ashmita Chaliha Nithin / Sai Pratheek Hemanagendra / Kanika
B. Sai Praneeth Aditi Bhat Kushal Raj / Prakash Raj (withdrew)
Maisnam Meiraba Unnati Hooda
Bharat Raghav Alisha Naik
Ansal Yadav Shriyanshi Valishetty
Siddhant Gupta Anupama Upadhyay

The competition is likely to be quite intense in men’s singles. While India have had three Indians in the top 20 for most of last year, Srikanth and Lakshya have slipped down the ladder in recent times and that has put them in the mix for trials. With Priyanshu Rajawat and national champion Mithun Manjunath also vying for spots, it is not going to be easy to pick the favourites here.

At the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Saina Nehwal had won bronze while PV Sindhu clinched silver. Those were India’s only two medals at the Games that year. Nehwal is eligible for the trials this time around after missing it last year. But she has been barely active on the BWF World Tour this year.

On 1 May, Nehwal withdrew from the trials with fitness issues as did the men’s doubles pair of Kushal Raj and Prakash Raj. “Saina Nehwal will not be participating as she has some fitness issues. Also the men’s pair of Kushal Raj and Prakash Raj has also withdrawn from the trials,” BAI secretary Sanjay Mishra told PTI.

The slot for the other women’s singles spot could well come down to the next generation. Aakarshi Kashyap had won the trials last year, while Anupama Upadhyaya, the new Indian national champion, made it to the Sudirman Cup squad recently. Teenager Unnati Hooda had also done well at the trials last time and would be in the mix again.

Mixed doubles continues to be a point of concern for India at the moment with Ishaan Bhatnagar getting injured at the Nationals. His regular partner Tanisha Crasto has formed a new pairing with Sai Pratheek while she has been playing with Ashwini Ponnappa for a while longer. Crasto / Pratheek and Crasto / Ponnappa had won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles titles recently at the ranking tournament and will stand to be favourites to make the cut. Ponnappa, a veteran of both doubles formats, is entered only in the women’s doubles category with Crasto.

Men’s doubles will see MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila / Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud in the mix for sure, but whether the final composition of the men’s and women’s squads has place for mixed doubles specialists remains to be seen.

Sindhu’s silver medal at 2018 is the best performance by an Indian shuttler at the Asian Games.

Top four at the recent Senior Ranking Badminton Tournament: